I have recently started salting my snuff, only my Irish no 22 so far, but that is my staple snuff, the only one I always have in my snuff box, the only one I have mason jars of, stashed away in my cupboard. I love the fresh baked bread and butter smell, and figured salt could only help. It definitely increases the burn, hahaha, but in a really good way and really just makes the whole experience more enjoyable to me. Also, with how much I sweat at work the little extra sodium is probably not a bad thing.
I never add salt to the procured ready-made snuff. It’s a common ingredient of many snuffs. Most of Poschl and many Bernard snuffs contain it (from 0.018% to 6.4% of total weight). It is present in American dry scotches. Most historical snuff recipes call for edible salt, too.
I’m preparing to run another batch of snuff this evening and going to add 2% of salt along with 5% of potash and 1% of salmiak. If you like salty licorice candies, you can try adding some salmiak to your snuff, too (up to 4%), but it will react with alkalizers present in snuff and release ammonia.
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I have never tried a salty licorice candy, but I love salt and licorice so I may have to try that. What are you using for your base tobacco? Whole leaf? I live in the states and have been thinking about trying my hands at some snuff making. I would love to learn how to make high quality snuffs from scratch.
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Yes, whole leaf without midribs (saving them for toast). I wish we had such nice assortment of leaf you guys have in the states (https://wholeleaftobacco.com, https://www.leafonly.com).
Making snuff from scratch is easier than it might seem. Tons of fun, too. Beware, though - once you start, you’re hooked, and the process is time-consuming. Don’t be afraid of alkalizers - food and pharmacy grade potash and washing soda are generally considered natural ingredients. Skipping them is probably the most common mistake, which pretty much always results in disenchantment with homemade snuff.
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I modify my Viking Brown and Santo Domingo sometimes but don’t add salt. They are salty enough already.
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Sometimes I’ll add salt to a batch but not always.
As @Volunge said, it’s a very common ingredient but not necessary.
Also, the method of using a percent by total weight seems to work much better than measuring spoons.
~Darin
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